A Distant Memory
by Xinyii xo
Summary: A battle with a familiar face awakens more mysterious memories of an important ally along with a promise he had long forgotten.


_**A Distant Memory…**_

_… maybe it wasn't as far away as we thought…_

_**A/n: **_Yeah... this is my first _Dissidia: FINAL FANTASY_ fanfiction. Hopefully no one is OOC C8

I haven't written anything in a loooong time (curse you school /shakes fist) so it may be a bit rusty lol but hopefully it's not too bad :D

I've had this idea in my head for a while, a little after I beat DDFF. But I've finally found time to type it~

And for those who are waiting for my FF13 fanfic, please be patient. I am working on it. It's only because this is a short one-shot that I managed to have time to type it.

I don't have a beta so if you see any errors, feel free to point them out to me (politely), thanks~

Enjoy~_**  
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_**Disclaimer: **_I do not own _Dissidia: FINAL FANTASY_ or _Dissidia 012 [duodecim] FINAL FANTASY._

_-xxx-_

As the brightly illuminated arrow pierced the manikin's chest, the last of its red rose petals fell to the floor, dual blades turning to crystal dust before fading away as the manikin shattered to pieces, unable to fight anymore as it gave out a final cry.

Seeing that victory was his, Firion tucked all his weapons away and approached the glassy remains of the pink manikin cautiously.

Large pink shards were shattered around the floor mixed with bright red rose petals. Firion felt a familiar pang in his heart as he stared at the broken manikin.

Again, it was the same enemy; a female, tall and thin, who wielded a weapon that was a strange cross between a sword and a gun that he had never seen before. Sure, he had seen Squall using something similar but his weapon didn't actually shoot out bullets like hers did.

Firion had seen her countless of times during his journey to end the conflict between the gods and, for some reason, he always felt uneasy fighting her.

At first he felt nothing; once she was defeated he'd just move on to the next opponent. But the more times he encountered her, the more troubled he felt.

_But why?_ They were the enemy, obstacles that stood in the way of his dream. Why should he feel remorse for taking them down?

He couldn't quite describe it, but he felt almost as if he was cutting down and betraying a good friend of his. It always killed him whenever he would have to land the final blow. The more he fought her, the more the thought made his skin crawl.

"_Never… thought… belonged_…_ you."_

There it was again. That same gentle voice.

It was nostalgic, but at the same time, he couldn't recall it from anywhere. The voice he kept hearing was always scattered and unclear. It was as if the forgotten memory was haunting him, bringing in a strong feeling of guilt.

It wasn't only the guilt of killing the manikin every time it reappeared.

It was also the guilt of a broken promise.

Not only was it her appearance and her voice that brought in feelings of nostalgia, there were also those attacks of hers.

Whenever she would summon those S-shaped blades to her hands, a swirl of rose petals would appear as she went for the attack.

He was told by Cecil a while ago that manikins were basically copies of all the warriors taking part in the war but he couldn't recognize her from anywhere.

_Just who… is she?_

"Firion! Are you alright?" a cheerful voice rang as Firion turned around to see Tidus running towards him with Cloud and Cecil trailing closely behind. Tidus dashed up the wide staircase and through the tall arch to the circular center platform of the arena.

"Yeah, how about you guys?"

"Still in one piece," Cloud said. "We just surveyed the area. There were no more manikins to be seen."

Tidus smirked, pumping a fist in the air. "It was a piece of cake. Nothing we couldn't handle."

Firion scoffed at his partner's cockiness as Cecil moved to the side to look past Firion to the center of the circular platform. "I see you took care of that other manikin."

"Huh? Oh, uh, yeah, I did."

Cloud and Cecil stared at Firion for a while before Tidus jumped in again.

"Oh man, do I hate fighting that manikin. Every time she attacks with those giant swords of hers, roses are flying everywhere! I can barely see anything!" Tidus said. "Bet it just breaks your heart seeing all those roses, huh Firion?" he joked, playfully elbowing the silver-head.

Firion said nothing in response and just remained silent.

"_You… hold onto…"_

More unclear memories came rushing into his head.

"_Who cares… people think"_

"Firion?"

Cecil's gentle voice broke Firion out of his thoughts as he stared back into the worried eyes of his allies.

"Is something the matter?"

Firion quickly shook his head. "No, no… it's nothing. Don't worry about me…"

Cecil didn't seem to believe his words and Cloud just shrugged.

"Guys, can we get out of here? This place is kinda creepy, don't you think?"

The group looked around at their surroundings for a second. Narrow platforms were flying all around them, the arena always changing shape. One of the strange things about the stage was that there were no definite walls or ceilings, just a bunch of banish traps. Then there was that large unusual circular wheel spinning in the back. Multiple reddish-maroon platforms were separated and branched off of the bottom of the staircases on both sides of the center platform. It was a place that was unfamiliar to the warriors.

"Tidus is right; it's best that we get out of here fast and focus on taking down Chaos and ending the conflict now that we all have our crystals." Cecil stated as the rest of the group nodded in union. The warriors started to trek off the arena while Firion could only stare back at the manikin he just took down.

"Cecil?" Firion quietly called out. The paladin turned around, signaling Cloud and Tidus to continue ahead as the blitzball player went back to animatedly talking to the blond soldier.

"Yes, Firion?"

Firion glanced back at the rose petals on the floor behind him once more.

"Do you remember anything… about the previous cycles?"

He had heard warriors of Chaos speak of the endless cycle of war but for some strange reason, he had no recollection of fighting in previous conflicts.

Cecil raised a pale eyebrow. "That's a pretty far-fetched question you're asking. Any reason why?"

"… _promise me…"_

Firion closed his eyes shut for a second, trying to match that voice to a face, any face. It was so frustrating; it made him want to pull out his hair. He could feel the memory there, the memory of _her_, so close he could touch it but then it would just float farther away the closer he got to it.

"I keep hearing this voice… a familiar one… every time when I fight a certain manikin, but I can't recognize her from anywhere."

Cecil silently took in Firion's words, trying his best to figure out a way to help his friend. What Firion was telling him wasn't exactly a strange thing. He had experienced something similar when fighting a certain dragoon manikin. He found it somewhat relieving that he wasn't the only one experiencing this, but also saddened him that he didn't have an answer for his friend.

"I'm sorry, Firion, but I don't really remember anything of the previous cycles." Cecil replied sadly. He then placed a steady hand on Firion's shoulder. "But I'm sure you'll remember eventually. It seems that the more we fight, the more our memories come back. Just don't give up." He reassured with a smile.

Firion nodded as Cecil started walking off to the direction of Cloud and Tidus. He looked back at Firion once more when he noticed that he wasn't following behind.

"Aren't you coming?"

Firion had his eyes back on the manikin's remains and petals once again. "I'll be right there."

With slow paces, Firion made his way back to the manikin. He stared long and hard at the remains. The shattered pieces made it hard to assemble the memories together. If only he had gotten a clearer look at her face while they were fighting.

His attention then made its way to the rose petals that lay near his feet and he soon found himself unable to take his eyes off of them.

"… _When you have all your memories back… could you give it back to me?"_

Reaching to his side, Firion pulled out his wild rose and stared at it, then turned to bronze circular wheel spinning slowly in the far distance ahead of him.

Carefully, he placed the rose gently on top of the fallen manikin.

He may not have clearly remembered who she was or what had happened to her that caused her to disappear from his and his allies' memories, but he knew that she was an important friend in the past.

And for the time being, that was enough for him.

"It's all yours now." He smiled softly. "Sorry for taking so long, Lightning."

_-xxx-_

_**A Distant Memory [END]**_

_-xxx-_

_**A/n: **_Not really a Firion/Lightning fanfic but if you want to see it that way, be my guest.

The main inspiration for this one-shot was that cutscene in the reports with Firion attempting to get his rose back from Lightning. Firion is just too cute XD and Lightning seems so oblivious lol And Cecil... oh, I love that man now.

And is it just me, or does Firion seem like an older Hope? lol

Could you guys tell that they were in Orphan's Cradle? C8_**  
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_**Review pretty please~!**_


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